Review: When You Finish Saving The World

Evelyn (Julianne Moore) and her son Ziggy (Finn Wolfhard) are forever on opposite pages. They don't get each other. They don't try to. Ziggy is out to impress a classmate, Lila (Alisha Boe) and Evelyn puts her interests on another young boy staying at the shelter she works, Kyle (Billy Bryk)

Jesse Eisenberg is one of those actors I root for even. This is his first time in the director's chair, shooting something he wrote originally as an audio book. It's exactly the kind of thing I'd expect Eisenberg to make. Witty and awkward, somewhat off beat. It's fitting. Wolfhard's character might have been Eisenberg had he grown up during gen Z.

Ziggy is obsessed with his follower count on a Twitch like streaming service. He longs to impress Lila, and his interactions with her, someone vastly more mature are the epitome of cringe. Alisha Boe is a very good actress but having seen her as a teenager 5 years ago in Thirteen Reasons Why, she feels very miscast. I almost think it would've made more sense if she was a young teacher Ziggy wanted to emulate rather than a classmate he has a crush on. Evelyn also has her issues. She's incredibly pretentious and her attempts to connect with Kyle rival the cringiness of her son. I didn't like either character, but I judged Evelyn more harshly because her lack of attentiveness directly contributed to the way Ziggy is.

Painting both characters as incredibly unlikable is a good thing. It makes the audience long for them to finally see eye to eye. I think Eisenberg could've done more with this. The ending leaves us with hope, but not much resolution.

It's a very typical first feature for an actor who has spent plenty of time on the indie scene. I enjoyed this for the most part, flaws and all. I look forward to see what he does next.

Grade: B-